Florida toll roads now cost more

Get ready to shell out more money if you drive Florida’s Turnpike, Alligator Alley and other state-operated toll roads in two weeks. And this time, SunPass customers also will feel the pinch.

Tolls went up by a quarter at most locations for both cash and SunPass customers at 6 a.m. June 24. Alligator Alley drivers will see a bigger increase.

The increases are required by law to take effect no later than June 30. The Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2007 authorizing toll adjustments linked to the Consumer Price Index at least every five years although officials can raise them as frequently as once a year. That means tolls will automatically increase with the cost of living.

At main turnpike plazas like Cypress Creek in Broward County and Lantana in Palm Beach County, tolls will go from 75 cents to $1 for drivers with SunPass and $1 to 1.25 for cash customers. On Alligator Alley, motorists will pay $2.75 with SunPass and $3 with cash.

For drivers headed to Gainesville from Sunrise Boulevard, you’ll pay an extra $2.45 in tolls in cash or $1.70 more with SunPass.

Revenue from the hike will be leveraged over 30 years to finance about $1.8 billion in projects.

That will allow the turnpike to accelerate plans to convert the turnpike and the Sawgrass Expressway to all-electronic tolling, improve the Golden Glades interchange and widen the turnpike between Homestead and Kendall Drive in southMiami-Dade County.